Extra: A higher calling in tough economic times

It could be as simple as a conversation between a soon-to-be graduate and a retired mentor. It could be as complicated as a job search for the recently employment-challenged. It could be as important as a homeowner being able to hold on to their house or as vital as feeding the hungry.

All of these things are being accomplished by Twin Cities' houses of worship. The economy has fallen from the clouds and church groups are getting down to Earth as well. In 2009, they are giving the physical almost as much attention as the spiritual. David Rogers of Saint Louis Park is grateful. "They're actually taking eyes off of themselves and offering a service."

Rogers is a job-seeker who has joined hundreds of others hoping to "network" at one of the regular Wednesday meetings in the church hall at Saint Andrew's Lutheran in Eden Prairie. Rogers is not a member of Saint Andrews. No one at the meeting even asks. There are donated donuts and coffee. The only hint of proselytizing, mild as it is, is an opening prayer by Parish Administrator Jim Schimelpfenig. "Lord God, you've called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending."

What is offered is the chance to make use of a list of church members in local corporations who might be able to guide individuals back into the world of the working. One by one, men and women stand, without names, to offer something of their backgrounds. A woman tells the group "I was working as a technical writer." A man follows with the explanation "I'm a mechanical engineer." The next speaker adds "I also have experience in sales administration." And so on.

In almost every case, there is someone in Schimelpfenig's book of Saint Andrew's parishioners who might be able to help. He flips through the wide pages as though searching through the phone book. "I don't have a lot of information. I just have a name, but if you'd call their central number." It is an untypical response. More often, he can offer a name and a company. There may not be a job available, but the need is great and, at least, there is a chance.

The Saint Andrew's weekly meeting has been in operation for two decades, the brainchild of the Reverend Rod Anderson. There used to be 20 or 30 people attending. This year the attendance can be upwards of 120. Often, those attending are split into two groups to speed the process. Word of the Saint Andrew's sessions and other such church networking efforts have reached the State's Workforce Centers. Many of those coming heard about the opportunity while looking elsewhere for help.

David Rogers is hoping for a position producing or directing in local theatre or television. "The greatest thing about this is you meet people, you would not have met otherwise that may have worked at a company 'oh, yeah. You should talk to so and so.'"

At a much more singular level, Twin Cities Muslims, including retired businessman Sheik Odeh Muhawesh, are mentoring job seekers. Law student Brad Rajek meets with Muhawesh several days a month, sometimes at local coffeeshops, occasionally at the University of Saint Thomas, where Muhawesh teaches. Rajek inquires about future employment. He knows that big law firms have been cutting hundreds of jobs. "I've heard that big law firms really like to see that you also get out in the community." His mentor examines Rajek's resume. "These documents that you submitted about some of the writings that you have done, I think this is excellent."

Rajek happens to be a follower of Islam, but Muhawesh insists that help from himself or his brethren is open to anyone. "Our communities are having a difficult time economically and it's really time for faith-based organizations and those who are involved with them to give back to the community. Simple as that."

The economic outreach crosses all denominations. A number of local churches, mosques and synagogues are trying to help individuals with basic needs, such as affording medical care or keeping possession of their home. Senior Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman of Minneapolis' Temple Israel saw the need. "It's interesting because so many people have found themselves in a difficult economic place for the first time in their lives."

Beginning in December 2008, Temple Israel found many of their own members feeling the unfamiliar economic pinch. However, their determination to help did not stop at the Temple's ornate interior, nor the Minnesotans who worship there. Dave Snyder of Jewish Community Action explains "We've joined with a number of other groups in North Minneapolis to form the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition." Snyder and other members of the coalition have been going door-to-door in the old neighborhood, which was once the center of Jewish life in Minnesota. More recently, North Minneapolis has suffered a plague of home foreclosures and evictions.

Embattled homeowner Dorothy Titus understands. "We all know people who have chosen to just walk away cause their mortgages are upside down." Titus does not want to join the financial exodus, but she faces the loss of her modest home. She is battling cancer and a bankruptcy that resulted from her illness. Her eyes tear up as she huddles in her neatly appointed living room with coalition worker Tyshelle Cotton. "I've been in chemotherapy for almost a year and it's like I just need a little space to recover and pull my life back together and I'm not sure how to create that."

Cotton is advising Titus, a long-time community activist herself, on how to block a foreclosure, even though a "sheriff's sale" of the property was just days away. "We want to see the people that really has their roots here in North Minneapolis be able to stay here."

Religions have always claimed to offer "food" for the soul, but bodily nutrition is the offering for the anonymous clients at Saint Matthew's Catholic Church on Saint Paul's west side. On a recent weeknight in May, can openers whirred and hamburgers sizzled on baking trays as one of the approximately 20 rotating church groups prepared a "Loaves and Fishes" dinner. The free meals are provided Mondays through Thursdays in the church hall. Regular volunteer Marion Handt agrees that the size of the "cafeteria congregation" has exploded since the economy went sour. "Yes, and I think the clientele has changed as well. We're seeing the needy people but we see the people that aren't always so needy that obviously the economy has affected them and, you're here, you will see the difference in appearances."

Once catering to just 40-50 people, the harder times have starved many personal budgets. Saint Matthew's Pastor Father Steve Adrian says evening feeds now serve more than 150 on any given night. On that particular night, after a short prayer only for those in the kitchen, men and women from Saint Timothy's Lutheran Church were vested in aprons, hair nets, gloves and caps. Armed with burgers, beans, chips and pears, they set up and manned a serving line of defense against hunger. Volunteer Vera Fullerton takes note of growing numbers of little people reaching high for their trays. "Sometimes we have a lot of children, probably now in the summer we'll have more 'cause they're not getting meals at school."

Like so many of her fellow volunteers, she feels the need is obvious and must be met. Food, jobs, housing and even the simplest kind of word of a mentor's support have become the higher pillars of piety. The evidence is strong that Minnesotans in increasing numbers are looking to religious groups for an economic lifeline.

Although each of the groups we spoke with insisted that their increased economic outreach work was not part of any targeted recruitment campaign, by all reports, attendance at local houses of worship has seen an upswing. The phenomenon is not surprising to many observers. Traditionally, when the economy is down, church attendance goes up.

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